Benefits of Yoga

A yoga studio seems like the trendy new thing, to buy a pastel yoga mat and a lurid pink yoga pants and go into a Sun Salutation but we are not talking about yoga today because it's a good excuse to wear yoga pants, we're going to show you why even just a few minutes of yoga a week will make you more mentally alert happier and healthier.

Yoga is an ideal exercise to body and mind. Practicing yoga offers a number of health benefits including a healthy strong body and peace of mind. It also increased focus and concentration. Yoga has helped many of us to live calm and peaceful lives.

There are plenty of studies that demonstrate yoga's potential for health. For example, Oxford University found that people who practice yoga even once a week were less stressed out, have lower blood pressure and slept better at night.

Yoga Benefits:

Yoga is not just good for your mental health according to the National Institute of Health it's proven to help with:

Musculoskeletal issues especially lower back pain,

It can help relieve asthma,

Improves your flexibility and posture. You only need to include yoga on your daily routine to benefit from a body that is strong, supple and flexible.

Weigh-loss. Yoga can boost your metabolism and build stronger muscles. Two things that are essential for weight loss. If you start to eat more whole organic foods while performing a daily yoga routine you'll be more likely to see the pounds come off quicker.

Relieving pain. It’s proven that Yoga can be very effective at relieving pain it doesn't matter if you suffer from fibromyalgia arthritis or migraine headaches, Yoga has been proven to effectively reduce pain from all these ailments and if you are one of the millions of people that suffer from back pain yoga can make that pain practically disappear.

So, why don't more people try yoga? Some are afraid it'll be too difficult.

There are tons of different types of yoga all with names that are kind of difficult to remember there's Hatha, Bikram, vinyasa the list goes on and while some types do encourage a hard workout where you bend and flex in insane positions, yoga can more simply be just used as a meditative tool and you get the same mental health benefits here's a word you probably haven't heard before pranayama means to focus on deep breathing and gentle stretching it's also what people and that Oxford University study tested and found to be so intricately connected to happiness.

Anyone in any skill level can try pranayama.

Step1. Stand comfortably on your two feet and then notice your breath, breathe deeply try to stay away from shallow chest breathing. Take a few minutes just to focus on your breath.

Step2. Now it's time to link your breath and movement.When you breathe in, raise your arms and when you breathe out, lower your arms, simple as that.

Step3. Keep your shoulders down and relax your hands, if you want you can spend 20 minutes doing this. This simple exercise is very good or you can look up for something a little bit more advanced try googling Sun Salutation or beginners yoga sequence.

Spend a little time taking stock of how you feel what do you think of yoga now that you've tried it for the first time.

Answer the following questions

1. How did you feel before your yoga practice?

2. What worries were you focusing on that day?

3. How did you feel during the exercise? What about after?

4. How does your breath feel now?

5. Can you notice a difference in your posture?

6. Do you notice any changes in your mood?

Try doing at least a 10-minute yoga practice every day for a week see how you feel at the end of the week.